Meet the voices shaping Africa’s carbon future

Our expert speakers bring deep insight, practical experience, and bold ideas to the summit stage.

Andrew Gilder

Director, Climate Legal, South Africa

  • Andrew Gilder is one of South Africa’s leading private sector environmental, climate change and carbon markets lawyer – he is a Director of Climate Legal, with more than twenty-three years’ legal practice experience specialising in climate change (mitigation and adaptation), climate finance and development, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance. His practical experience extends over a range of African jurisdictions, including advice to public and private sectors on the development and implementation of climate change, climate finance, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance as well as regulatory and transactional advice to industries, foreign embassies and municipalities on the implementation of infrastructure development projects. His practical experience includes advising government, businesses and industries on climate change policy development and its implications, including climate change business risks and opportunities, assessing commercial relationships against evolving climate change policy and regulation and relevant contractual considerations, as well as advising on, negotiating and drafting of commercial contracts required to secure financial and logistical positions in the carbon market. He is also responsible for drafting the South African Climate Change Act 2024, for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, together with related legal instruments, and was extensively involved in South Africa’s adaptation legal and policy alignment process. Andrew has worked on climate change legislation and strategy in Zimbabwe, Thailand, Mongolia, The Seychelles and the Southern African Development Community and has been recognised as a leading lawyer by PLC Which Lawyer? 2012 (Environment, South Africa), Best Lawyers 2018, 2020–24 (Environment, South Africa) and Chambers and Partners 2021–2024 (Environment, South Africa), and was shortlisted for an African Legal Award, in 2015. Andrew is the co-editor and co-author of three seminal works in the South African climate change and carbon market arena, namely: Climate Change Law and Governance in South Africa (Juta, 2016) (South Africa’s first comprehensive treatise on climate change law and governance), Concise Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, October 2020) and Comprehensive Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, March 2022).

Andrew Ocama

Coordinator, East Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance

  • Andrew Ocama is a seasoned sustainable development professional with more than 14 years’ experience in the carbon markets. He has served in several carbon asset development management and consulting roles in the region and led teams to remarkable degrees of measurable success in both the Gold Standard and CDM. He is a long-standing supporter of the Alliance and has been available to contribute to several consultations regarding carbon market systems formation especially with regard to Article 6. He took on the role of the Alliance coordinator in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is leading on the implementation of the organizational strategy, institutional growth, and the delivery of projects, mainly country structural priorities,  with regard to readiness for carbon markets access and climate finance.  He most recently served as an embedded Climate Finance Advisor working with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in Ethiopia supporting the Ministry of Planning and Development in the development of systems for carbon markets and the sovereign wealth fund in the development of a climate strategy and a pipeline of projects. Before that, he served in Senior Management roles with Evidence Action, leading in the issuance of more than 2.4 million carbon credits certified under the CDM and Gold Standard. He previously led country programs for Co2balance in Uganda and Rwanda and has served as a consultant on development of African clean cooking and hydro power carbon projects with the South Pole Group.

Mathis Granjon

Trader, Green Steps, Netherlands

  • Mathis Granjon is Head of Carbon Markets at Green Steps, where he leads the company’s carbon trading and sourcing strategy. With a background in mathematics and science from ECSP, he began his career as an LNG trader at Tamoli before moving into hedge fund fundraising in the US. His combined experience in energy trading and finance equips him to navigate the evolving carbon markets with both commercial insight and a strong focus on sustainability.

Dr. Olufunso Somorin

Regional Principal Officer, AfDB, Kenya

Olivia Tuchten

Principal Climate Change Advisor, Promethium Carbon, South Africa

Lawrence Cole-Morgan

Global Markets: Lead, Carbon Credit Trading, Standard bank

Heather McEwan

Regional Representative, Africa, and the Middle East - Strategy, Policy, and Markets Department, Verra

Bernardin Uzayisaba

Carbon Market Programme Specialist, UNDP

Javier Manzanares

CEO, ALLEN MANZA

Anelisa Matutu

Anelisa Matutu

Head: Commodities, Capital Markets, JSE

  • BIO TBC

Charles Nweke

Venture Building Engagement Lead, Venture Building Engagement Lead

  • BIO TBC

Fenella Aouane

Managing Director – Head of Carbon Pricing, GGGI

  • BIO TBC

Ibrahim Shelleng

Senior Special Assistant to the President, Government of Nigeria

  • BIO TBC

Kent Davis

Partner, Webber Wentzel

  • BIO TBC

Mandy Rambharos

CEO, Verra

  • BIO TBC

Mkuthazi Steleki

Director: Climate Change Developments and International Mechanisms, Department of Fisheries Forestry and the Environment (DFFE)

  • BIO TBC

Shamini Harrington

Senior Executive: Climate Change GHG Management Sustainability, Minerals Council South Africa

  • BIO TBC

  • Dr. Olufunso Somorin is a Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank. He leads the Bank’s work on climate change and green growth in the 13 countries of the Bank’s East African region. This includes supporting countries’ access to climate finance for climate actions, and mainstreaming climate change in policies and programs. He leads strategic dialogues with public and private institutions on policy frameworks for managing local/regional socio-economic issues, climate change, renewable energy, carbon markets, infrastructure, ESG and inclusive growth. Between 2013 and 2017, he coordinated the Bank’s work on addressing fragility and building resilience within the Horn of Africa. In the last 13+ years in the Bank, he has been directly involved in the design, appraisal, and supervision of more than 300 development projects across multiple sectors, worth more than USD 20 billion. Over the last 17 years, Dr Somorin has published more than 50 articles on climate policy in Africa and has spoken at 300+ conferences and events. 

  • Olivia Tuchten is a Director at the Promethium group of companies, which is a multi-disciplinary team of independent and passionate carbon and climate change advisors.

    She represents Promethium on the Executive Committee of the Project Developer Forum, a collaborative association of companies and practitioners that are developing and financing greenhouse gas emission reduction projects around the world, as well as the ISO Technical Committee 207 (Environmental Management). In her personal capacity, she is a UNFCCC nominated expert and was also on the Article 6.4 Mechanism Roster of Experts as a “Methodologies Expert” until March 2025.

    She holds a Masters in Business Administration and undertook her research dissertation on the advantages of strategic alliances in the South African renewable energy industry, with specific reference to the first phase of the recent Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme undertaken in South Africa to drive development of the renewables sector.

    She has worked in the climate sector for over 15 years, and has been involved in the development, registration and issuance of carbon offset projects for this length of time. Her passion is to develop and grow carbon markets in Southern Africa and across the continent.

  • Lawrence Cole-Morgan holds a law degree from the University of Birmingham and is a UK-qualified solicitor. He has also recently obtained a master’s degree in Environmental and Energy Law, also from the University of Birmingham. Lawrence spent 5 years as a banking and finance lawyer with leading English and New York law firms before moving into banking, where he worked in structured finance for Bankers Trust and Deutsche in London, Singapore, and Tokyo. In 2010, Lawrence joined Standard Bank’s Investment Banking team, where he worked on numerous financing transactions, and in 2022, he moved to the Global Markets division of Standard Bank to set up the bank’s carbon credit trading and finance business.

Muireann Mageras

Global Head of Sustainability Strategy, Hartree Partners

  • BIO TBC

  • BIO TBC

  • Since 2019, Tomas Sales leads the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub (AFSH) Private Sector and related Sustainable Investments workstreams which deals with issues of SME and informal enterprises finance and trade, regional food value chains development and resilience, green business, and carbon markets. In the previous 4 years, he was the UNDP Manager for the African Facility for Inclusive Markets (AFIM) Unit of the RSCA. Tomas is an expert on Emerging Markets Capital Markets and Business Finance, Private Sector Development and Engagement, Business Ecosystems Development Approach, Collective Action Platforms, Value Chain Development, Impact Investment and Sustainable Finance. He has a solid track record in designing, developing, and delivering successful corporate flagships products and development solutions such as the UNDP’s “Realizing Africa’s Wealth- Building Inclusive Business for Shared Prosperity Report”, the Africa Impact Investment Action Plan and Sector Development Initiative” and the “Agribusiness Supplier Development Program” implemented in Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote Ivoire. He has helped pioneering 3 Regional Food Value Chains Facilitation Platforms with ECOWAS, COMESA and EAC, co-developed the “CAADP Investment Facilitation Project” for Investment Agencies, the strategic and business plan for the creation of the AUC AIMEC (African Inclusive Markets Centre of Excellence) and lead with the preparation of the “South Africa SDG Investor Map”, the first in the continent. Tomas also led an “Africa Impact Investment Fund of Funds Study “and the incubation and launching of the Impact@Africa, a continental impact investment network. He also contributed actively in the preparation of’ “Regulation as a Stimulus Report” to leverage the AfCTA opportunities in the post COVID recovery era.  Before UNDP he served as an Emerging Capital Markets Director and Investment Advisor with Caswell Capital Partners, the Devpar Group, and the Aidoo Group in Wall Street. He holds a Post-Graduate Advanced Diploma in International Business and Finance, and Master of Arts and Science on International Economics and Development from Fordham University. He speaks English, Portuguese, and French.

Dominic Wilhelm

Dominic Wilhelm

The Global Trust Project

  • BIO TBC

Colin Porteous

CEO, Peace Parks Foundation

  • Bianca is the Regional Lead for Africa at the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI). She recently completed a secondment as a Carbon Markets Advisor to the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change in the Executive Office of the President of Kenya. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in shaping Kenya's policy and regulatory framework in alignment with the President’s vision of attracting carbon finance for Kenya’s green growth. She also organized the inaugural Kenya Carbon Markets Conference in March 2024, bringing together key stakeholders in a collective effort to participate in high integrity carbon markets. Now back at VCMI, her role focuses on leading delivery of VCMI strategy across Africa, including the scale up of VCMI’s access strategies . Prior to VCMI, Bianca was the Coordinator of the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance where she led capacity building activities on carbon markets for government and non-state actors. Her experience also extends to serving as a Lead Coordinator and negotiator for Article 6 for the Kenya Delegation at climate change negotiations.

Dorah Modise

Executive Director, Presidential Climate Commission

  • BIO TBC

Erisa Senerdem

Erisa Senerdem

Global Lead, Carbon, Argus Media

  • BIO TBC

Hugh Salway

Senior Director, Market Development and Partnerships, Gold Standard

  • BIO TBC

Laura Lahti

Head of Impact, Camco

  • BIO TBC

Madeleine Garlick

Africa Director, One Carbon World

  • BIO TBC

Maxwell Gomera

Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub, Africa Region

  • BIO TBC

Shalendra Subramoney

Senior Manager Sustainable Business Mechanisms, Strategy and Sustainability, Business Building Strategy and Technology, Sasol

  • BIO TBC

  • BIO TBC

Kyoo-Won Oh

Senior Underwriter, Carbon Finance Lead, MIGA

  • BIO TBC

Angela Churie Kallhauge
Anthony Nyong

Anthony Nyong

Director Climate Change and Green Growth Department, African Development Bank

  • Biography - TBC

Caroline Tixier

Policy Officer, European Union Delegation to South Africa

  • BIO TBC

Ephraim Mwepya Shitima

Ephraim Mwepya Shitima

Chair, African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN); Director, Climate Change Department, Ministry of Green Economy and Environment

  • BIO TBC

Hirander Misra

Co-Founder and Chairman, GMEX Group and ZERO13

  • BIO TBC

Justin Smith

Head of Scale, Sustainable Finance Coalition

  • BIO TBC

Margaret Athieno Mwebesa

Commissioner, Climate Change Department, National Focal Point, UNFCCC, National Project Coordinator, Investing in Forests and Protected Areas for Climate Smart Development Project Ministry of Water and Environment

  • BIO TBC

Samantha Petersen

West Indian Ocean Seascape Lead, WWF Africa

  • BIO TBC

Tomas Sales

Special Advisor, UNDP Africa Sustainable Finance Hub (ASFH)

  • BIO TBC

Will Gifford

Policy Manager, Aviation & NCS Lead, IETA

Angela Churie Kallhauge

Executive Vice President – Impact, Environmental Defence Fund

  • Biography - TBC

Duncan Ward

Duncan Ward

Group Managing Director, TransEnergy Global

  • BIO TBC

Franz Rentel

Managing Director, Anthesis South Africa

  • Flora Ji leads Shell’s global Nature Based Solutions (NBS) business. She and the team focus on the development of high-quality natural carbon sinks with environmental and social co-benefits, as well as nature-based market and customer solutions that can contribute to climate change mitigation.

    Shell’s NBS business invests in activities that protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural ecosystems, including forest, agriculture, wetland, grassland, and coastal ecosystems. The business takes on long-term commitments in NBS projects, working closely with local communities, governments, NGOs, and other experts to ensure that the projects invested in make a demonstrable difference.

    Flora joined Shell in 2006, and has worked across Downstream and Upstream in operational, commercial, and business management roles in China, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, and Singapore. She holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Jonathan First

Senior Advisor, Climate Policy Initiative

Lorna Ritchie

Policy Director, Integrity Council on Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM)

  • BIO TBC

Marc Baker

Director & Co-Founder, Carbon Tanzania

Paul Muthaura

CEO, ACMI

Shaun Slabber

Co-Founder & CEO, Crunch Carbon

  • BIO TBC

Roland Hunter

Regional Lead for Business Development – Africa, South Pole

  • BIO TBC

Susan Nambusi

Senior Manager Innovation & Sustainability, Kenya Airways

  • BIO TBC

Bianca Gichangi

Regional Lead - Africa Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI)

  • BIO TBC

Flora Ji

Vice President - Shell Nature Based Solutions, Shell

  • Flora Ji leads Shell’s global Nature Based Solutions (NBS) business. She and the team focus on the development of high-quality natural carbon sinks with environmental and social co-benefits, as well as nature-based market and customer solutions that can contribute to climate change mitigation.

    Shell’s NBS business invests in activities that protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural ecosystems, including forest, agriculture, wetland, grassland, and coastal ecosystems. The business takes on long-term commitments in NBS projects, working closely with local communities, governments, NGOs, and other experts to ensure that the projects invested in make a demonstrable difference.

    Flora joined Shell in 2006, and has worked across Downstream and Upstream in operational, commercial, and business management roles in China, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, and Singapore. She holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Ousmane Fall Sarr

Coordinator West African Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance

Toni Heigl

Founder & CEO, CarbonWise Consulting

  • BIO TBC